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Video Field Day took place at Virginia Tech’s Moss Arts Center on Monday, February 9, 2014. The event was held for students in Professor Derley Aguilar’s Advanced Multimedia Reporting class.

Students were assigned to either the Orange or Maroon team. There were three events scheduled for each team to compete in, as well as a fourth event that would incorporate both teams.

 

There were a few of exceptional performers that stood out on Video Field Day. The event’s most outstanding player had to be Patrick. He finished first in the second, third and fourth events, giving him the most wins on the day. His performance may go down as one of the greatest of all time.

“I can’t say I didn’t earn it,” said Patrick. “I trained really hard.”

Macy Kinder of the Orange team also had a great day. Kinder took first place in both the first and third events, as well as put on a clinic in the final event of the day when she finished second in the over-under cord-wrapping event.

Another solid performer for the Orange team was Danny Nokes. Nokes placed second in the first event and first in the second event. He decided to sit out the final event of the day due to an injury. The details of his injury have yet to be released.

Other students struggled on Video Field Day.

The lone disqualification came in the Orange team’s third event when Morgan Conklin accidentally touched her camera as it was being inspected by Professor Aguilar.

Ricky LaBlue and Davis were unable to find their chemistry throughout the event.

“It was the little things that hurt us today,” said LaBlue. “There’s no yin and yang relationship between us at all.”

Davis was able to place second in the first event for the Maroon team.

Although there were both winners and losers on this year’s Video Field Day, the event was a great learning experience for all the students. Professor Aguilar stressed the importance of paying attention to detail and efficiency when reporting in the field.

One can certainly expect that all of the students that took part in Video Field Day will improve with a camera as the semester rolls along.

This whole blog is now mine. How cool is that? I mean, the entire this was mine, but, officially, as of a few months ago, this blog now has nothing to do with class work. Isn’t that exciting?

Well, it is to me.

Anywho, new semester, new goals. I’m graduating this year, and I have every intention of finding a good job that allows me all sorts of things. Mainly, the ability to gain experience in my field and stay close to my boyfriend. Yes, I understand that I’m a little young to be making decisions based on a significant other, but, well. That’s what I’m doing. It’s not the entire decision making process, but it’s part of it.

Also, I need to get my writing under control. I do so little of it, these days, and I’d like to improve on all fronts. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll probably feed myself based on my ability to write. Thus, I must practice.

And look at that. I have a blog just waiting for some entries.

To anyone who may have followed my blog for more from my Writing and Digital Media class, there will be no more. There may be a chance that I will write about my experiences in my Creating Content for the Web, but that’s as close as I will get.

When the Virginia Tech softball team fell to the Lipscomb Lady Bisons 12-3 back on May 17, 2014, Amanda Ake thought that her time with the Hokies had come to an end.

However, after a very successful career in centerfield for Tech, Amanda Ake joined the coaching staff of the softball team this fall as a volunteer assistant.

Although she admits the transition has been tough, Ake maintains the career goal of one day becoming the head coach of her own softball program.

“It’s been hard. We had our first games last week. It was hard watching but getting to inspire these girls as a coach is pretty cool,” said Ake.

The Virginia Tech softball team is one of the most consistent squads on campus. Since its establishment in 1996, the program has made the NCAA tournament 7 times, won 2 ACC championships and even made an appearance in the Women’s College World Series. Head coach Scot Thomas has been the skipper of the Hokies since the team was founded.

“We’ve had a lot of great players come through this program,” said Thomas. “Ake’s playing experience will definitely benefit our players as we move closer to the season.”

The Carrollton, GA native notes that she already has an offer for an assistant coaching position at her former school, Tallahassee Community College. Ake spent two seasons playing softball in Florida before transferring to Virginia Tech. She plans on returning to TCC as a coach after finishing up her master’s degree.

“God has given me this opportunity to come out and be there for the girls and that’s something that I definitely want to do for the next thirty years.”

Virginia Tech will host West Virginia Wesleyan at 12:30 PM and Gardner-Webb at 3 PM this sunday in a doubleheader exhibition at Tech Softball Park.

Take a closer look at Ake’s transition from player to coach:

The Samuel Irving Newhouse School for Public Communications at Syracuse University is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious journalism schools in the United States.

Founded in 1964, S.I. Newhouse graduates some of the most recognizable names in sports broadcasting every single year.

Here’s a closer look at just a few Syracuse products:

Each broadcaster listed above spent his free-time as an undergrad working for Syracuse’s student radio station, WAER-FM. When working for WAER, students are given the opportunity to work hands-on as broadcasters, studio hosts, producers and anchors to bolster their resumes.

This year, Mike Tirico, the play-by-play voice of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, was inducted into the WAER Hall of Fame on February 28, 2014.

Bill Roth, the play-by-play voice of Virginia Tech football and men’s basketball, as well as Sean McDonough, play-by-play broadcaster for ESPN, were inducted into the WAER Hall of Fame on August 23, 2014.

So, what is it about S.I. Newhouse and WAER-FM that draws so much new talent to its program? Most alumni will tell you the list of famous broadcasters that come from Syracuse was enough to make them want to attend classes there. However, those same people will give you many more reasons as to why they wanted to call games for the Orange.

“The faculty and facilities at the Newhouse school are top-notch,” said Mike Couzens, play-by-play broadcaster for ESPN and 2010 graduate.

Mike Lefko graduated from Syracuse in 2011. He now works for the University of South Florida as the broadcast coordinator.

“I think I truly learned how to be a broadcaster from my time there,” said Lefko.

Travis Eldridge, a 2011 alumni and current sports anchor for WBNG-TV in Binghamton, NY also has fond memories of his alma mater.

“Between the friendships I made, the experiences I had, and the opportunities given to me, I don’t think I could have picked a better school,” said Eldridge.

The Virginia Tech wrestling program kicked off one of the biggest weekends in program history on Saturday, November 22, 2014. Saturday night, Olympic gold medalist Dan Gable was in town to host a skills clinic for both college and local high school coaches and players. The visit from the wrestling legend set the stage for the weekend’s main event: a matchup between #10 Virginia Tech and #4 Ohio State.

Dan Gable was a 15-time national championship coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1976-1997. In that time span, Gable coached both Virginia Tech’s head coach Kevin Dresser and Ohio State’s head coach Tom Ryan.

“Tom [Ryan] is a Hawkeye and an intense dude. He doesn’t like losing just like we don’t like losing,” said Dresser. “It’s one of those dual meets that wrestling needs more of.”

The weekend’s first event was the skills clinic, which took place in the Bowman Room at Cassell Coliseum.

“The purpose of the clinic was to help high school and middle school wrestlers and to provide them with knowledge from a legend [Gable],” said Dresser.

Gable gave a speech to coaches and wrestlers in attendance, which can be seen here:

When the clinic had concluded, the Hokies’ and Buckeyes’ wrestling teams took center stage. 2,833 fans filed into a cozy Cassell Coliseum to create an electric atmosphere. Tech was ranked #10 in the country and was coming off of back-to-back ACC championships in 2013 and 2014. On the other side of the mat, Ohio State came into the match ranked #4 in the country and had 9 of its 10 wrestlers ranked in the top 13 by InterMat.

The match was broadcast live on ESPN3 with Gable mat-side as a co-host along with David Marone and host Danny Nokes. CJ Fiala was the sideline reporter; marking the first time the HokieVision crew had incorporated sideline interviews.

“Producing this event on behalf of Virginia tech for ESPN will be a highlight in my career,” said producer Christopher Bullard. “Having Dan Gable a part of the broadcast team is something that I never dreamed of but glad I was a part of.”

OSU and Tech battled back and forth the entire match trading victories. After nine of the ten matches, Tech trailed the Buckeyes 15-18. The Hokies needed a victory from heavyweight Ty Walz over Ohio State’s Nick Tavanello to tie the overall score.

“I had to trust my Sports Information Director, Bryan Johnston,” said Dresser. “He came up to me before the match and said ‘Walz has to win by two.'”

Going along with the theme of the rest of the match, the final contest of the day went to a tiebreaker. Walz lead Tavanello 5-4 at the beginning of the period. However, Walz was able to earn an escape giving him a point, and a 6-4 lead as the crowd came to its feet.

“Knowing you have to win is never fun,” said Walz. “Usually I like to have an open and free-flowing style when I’m out there.

Walz held on for the 6-4 decision over Tavanello, which tied the overall team scores at 18.

Since Walz was able to win his matchup by two points, the Hokies ultimately won the match on third criteria tiebreaker.

“It’s harder when you know the match is on the line,” said Walz. “We have the best coaches in the country and the best wrestlers in the country and that’s why we won.”

#10 Virginia Tech (4-0) 19, #4 Ohio State (3-1) 18

125: #5 Joey Dance (VT) dec. #10 Nathan Tomasello, 7-6
133: #8 Johnni DiJulius (OSU) dec. #19 Kevin Norstrem, 2-1
141: #1 Logan Stieber (OSU) fall Jerry Ronnau, 3:37
149: #2 Devin Carter (VT) dec. Randy Languis, 12-6
157: #7 Josh Demas (OSU) dec. Sal Mastriani, 11-6
165: Chris Moon (VT) dec. Justin Kresevic, 6-1
174: #11 Zach Epperly (VT) fall #13 Mark Martin, 10:50 (TB-2)
184: #7 Kenny Courts (OSU) dec. Austin Gabel, 9-5
197: #7 Kyle Snyder (OSU) dec. Jared Haught, 8-5
285: #10 Ty Walz (VT) dec. #11 Nick Tavanello, 6-4 (TB-1)

* – Virginia Tech wins on the third tiebreaker (match points, 48-47)

Check out the highlights from one of Virginia Tech wrestling’s biggest wins in program history:

Following the match, we had a chance to sit down with Head Coach, Kevin Dresser, to get his thoughts on the match, as well as an outlook on the team: